Reckless Rival : An Indian college romance

Chapter 12

After a long exhausting day, Nami finally made it to the cafeteria. She was not even hungry, and all she could think about was to crash like she had the past week or so. But now, she had to stay up until he showed up and then eat.

The cafe was bustling with students, and she had a tough time finding a table. She looked around the crowd, wondering if Rana was already there, but she had no patience to walk around looking for him. Instead, she stood to one side of the cafeteria and scanned every table, and, of course, he was not there.

Based on how he made her wait that the morning, she expected him to pull the same stunt. She was glad she brought her laptop with her so she could at least get some of her classwork done while she waited. She didn't know how much time had passed, but her focus was broken by a sudden increase in the noise levels, and somewhere she heard his name being called out.

She looked at the time and made note of the fact that he showed up a good hour after she showed up. She put away her laptop and looked for him. It was not hard to spot him if he were standing, but he seemed to be sitting, and there was no sight of him.

Unsure if he was even in the cafeteria, she wondered how much longer she was going to have to wait for him. She pulled out her phone and called him only to get his voicemail. Frustrated and tired, she stood on top of a chair and tried to look for him.

From that vantage point, she spotted him. He was sitting with a few other students. "Stupid moron asks me to meet him for dinner and is sitting with someone else." She marched over to where he sat and stood across from the table.

Moments passed, and she swore he saw her standing there, but he continued to ignore her. He continued to listen to the girl next to him like she was telling him about how to end world hunger when all she was talking about was a vacation.

"Excuse me," she said rather loudly, and everyone at the table looked up at her but him. He said she couldn't him call by his name. "I need to talk to you." She kept her eyes on him as he slowly looked up.

"Who are you?" His words were a complete shocker.

Her jaw dropped, and she lost her voice.

"Looks like another one of your fans." One guy laughed. "She doesn't even know your name."

She ignored all the voices and kept her eyes on him. "You asked me to meet you here for dinner."

"Rana, did you?" the girl next to him asked, pouting.

To her utter surprise, he shook his head. "I have no idea who she is."

"What?" She was starting to shake with anger.

"Excuse me for a bit," he said to the girl next to him before standing up to walk over to her. He gestured her to step aside from the table and smiled.

"What the heck is this?" she demanded, stepping close to him.

"Calm down." He flashed a charming smile at her. "I said I'll see you here for dinner, not sit with you."

She felt the burn in her stomach. "You are lame. Such an ass," she spat.

"Just because you got me to ask you out once, you think it's that easy to get to me? Now, you'll need to impress me way more than everyone else does, and then I might consider." He chuckled, that sexy smile of his driving her hackles up. "You need to up your game... by a lot."

Irritated and embarrassed by the way he set her up, she grit her teeth and reached for the fabric of his T-shirt. Using her fisted palm on his chest as the anchor, she pulled herself up to mash her lips with his. It was a quick kiss, but she wanted to send a message to him and everyone around her.